Andrew Fleming

Interview: British Comedian Steve Coogan Rocks Sexy Jesus Character in ‘Hamlet 2’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:10:50 -0600

CHICAGO – Steve Coogan is a British comedy icon. Forging a career from creating an array of characters, though, he’s not as well known in America (except to BBC cultists).

He brings this talent for characterization to the lead role of an American high school drama teacher in the new film “Hamlet 2”. Coogan adds some peculiar quirks to the depiction of the clueless soul who seemingly will do anything to project his dramatic “vision”.

“Hamlet 2” star Steve Coogan in Chicago on July 30, 2008.
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

Steve Coogan stars in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

In a recent HollywoodChicago.com interview with Coogan, he philosophized about the nature of his comedy and how he hopes it can translate both in “Hamlet 2” and within the larger entertainment scope as his career progresses.

Describing the roots of his basis in developing characters, Coogan went back to his childhood in Manchester, England.

“As a kid before cable or VCRs, I used to use an audio cassette recorder to tape TV shows,” Coogan recalled.

He added: “[I did it] just to get the audio tracks. Also there was a lot of comedy on records. I would listen to Monty Python and older British comedy like Tony Hancock and The Goon Show.”

Steve Coogan (center) and Skylar Astin (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

Rating: 2.5/5.0

“Often people would describe their favorite moments on the TV shows or records,” he continued. “I would say: ‘No. You’ve got it wrong.’ I would start to mimic what was accurate on those shows. I would enjoy the retelling of the stuff. I would enjoy people’s reaction to it once I did it.”

“Hamlet 2” is a bit of a departure from the British scene. It depicts Coogan as Dana Marschz: a down and out American actor forced to teach bad drama in a high school in Tucson, Ariz. His student body consists of two worshipful pupils who do stage recreations of movies like “Erin Brockovich”.

When Dana is forced to take some rougher students into his classes, it’s within the context that the school system is about to cut the drama department entirely. What is necessary is a big production. It must be something the bureaucracy can’t ignore.

Dana Marschz will come up with the sequel to one of Shakespeare’s best. He’ll call it “Hamlet 2”. Coogan added: “What attracted me to the character of Dana was that it’s a funny part.”

Steve Coogan (left), Elisabeth Shue (center) and Amy Poehler (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Focus Features

Melonie Diaz (left), Steve Coogan (center) and Phoebe Strole (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

He continued: “He is vulnerable, which was a departure from characters I’ve played who are unlikable. I am attracted toward dysfunctional people because I find them more interesting. It’s a challenge to play someone odd or dysfunctional and still make the audience care about them.”

While Dana plots his masterpiece, his marriage dissolves around him. Still, the plucky and gullible dramatist forges on.

His play will revolve around a time machine (so the dead characters in the first “Hamlet” can be revived), musical numbers and the character of “Sexy Jesus” for the big finish.

“We talked about how to make Jesus sexy,” Coogan explained. “That’s why we settled on the jeans and T-shirt. The hair was always kind of cool.”

“It did make me a little nervous to play Jesus,” he admitted. “I did wonder whether (writer/director) Andy (Fleming) was just trying to be provocative to annoy Christians in a certain way or if it was just funny. I wasn’t quite sure, but in the end, I just did it.”

Coogan also talked about playing Dana as an American and the differences between that freedom and the more repressed British psychology.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Hamlet 2” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Patrick McDonald.

“As a generalization, I think Americans are less repressed than British people,” he said. “Culturally, people from America come from somewhere else, so there’s the risk factor within the personality that makes them more free.”

“There is no subtext with Dana,” Coogan added. “The challenge was how to make it interesting when he’s so big and demonstrative – without making it over the top – especially in contrast with the other characters in the film who are more grounded.”

In his final thoughts, Coogan mentioned why he sometimes has trouble being pigeonholed in the way he’s cast in movies.

“I like variety. I don’t like to repeat myself,” he said. “In this marketplace, that is difficult because representatives sometimes don’t know how to sell me. I do so many different things. But it satisfies me creatively.”

“Hamlet 2,” which is written and directed by Andrew Fleming, features Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, David Arquette, Elisabeth Shue, Amy Poehler, Melonie Diaz, Phoebe Strole and Skylar Astin. The film opened on Aug. 22, 2008.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Emma Roberts in Campy ‘Nancy Drew’ is Nice But Nobody’s Fool

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:36:27 -0600

CHICAGO – Emma Roberts as “Nancy Drew” is nice but nobody’s fool.

In playing the iconic character from books that span back decades, though, the film sends our teenage generation a confusing message. Designed to be a relatable role model to women in their teens, who’s really that untouchable at 16 years old?

Emma Roberts plays Nancy drew in “Nancy Drew”.
Photo courtesy of Melinda Sue Gordon and Warner Bros.
“She’s sure of herself, proper, determined, real, very intelligent, not afraid to be herself and [basically] perfect,” Roberts, who is the niece of Julia Roberts, said in an interview with Adam Fendelman.

She added: “She shows kids it’s OK to be different. She shrugs off kids making fun of her and she perseveres. She’s determined to solve mysteries while most kids just go to school and try to make good grades. They’re not doing half the things she’s doing. She’s doing everything times 10.”

But isn’t it OK for kids just to go to school and get good grades or must they strive to be a superhero or celebrity Sherlock Holmes? This could portray the message that Nancy Drew is “better” than other teenagers. In trying to be relatable, since when are kids like this?

Where’s all the traditional teenage angst, sexual curiosity, pimples and parental rebellion? In the film, she attends “Hollywood High School,” is picture perfect, prissy and campy to a whole new level. That’s exactly the part Roberts wanted, too.

Emma Roberts with “Nancy Drew” director Andrew Flemming.
Photo courtesy of Melinda Sue Gordon and Warner Bros.
“I don’t know who else auditioned – they wouldn’t tell us – but I really wanted this part. I’ve been on other auditions that I haven’t gotten and I felt like ‘too bad. I’ll just get something else.’ For the first time, I would have been really upset if I didn’t get this one,” she said. Roberts added: “Kids will enjoy seeing this movie and parents will enjoy taking their kids.”

Born on Feb. 10, 1991, Roberts at 16 doesn’t seem to remember that she’s certainly a kid herself. Just as Nancy Drew in the film feels more grown up for her age, Roberts goes to great strides to portray herself as a grown up as well. At this point in time, she says her age works toward her advantage.

“People say I don’t look my age and I look younger,” Roberts said. “It’s good to be 16 [in Hollywood]. You can either play a young woman or can dress down and play a younger ‘tween’.”

In auditioning for the part, Roberts hadn’t read a single Nancy Drew novel.

Nancy Drew can never stop sleuthing.
Photo courtesy of Melinda Sue Gordon and Warner Bros.
“I didn’t read them when I was younger. Nancy Drew wasn’t big at the time when I went through grade school,” she said. “Now I see young girls reading them all the time. When I got the part and started shooting, I read a few of them. I’m trying to read more now but it’s difficult when I don’t have much time.”

As she is an avid reader and says she typically reads a couple books a week, though, you’d think she’d make time to read up more on the character she has become on the big screen. In the books, Nancy Drew is 18 with strawberry blonde hair.

To shape the movie character, Roberts says she didn’t draw inspiration from other actors or books. She added: “The clothing and hair helped me become her.” In terms of a role model, she named Reese Witherspoon and Drew Barrymore because they too have acted since a young age.

Roberts says it was important to her that the kid actors in “Nancy Drew” were actually around the ages they were portraying. She added: “I don’t like when actors in their late 20s try to play teens.”

Emma Roberts appears with her clearly campy clue book.
Photo courtesy of Melinda Sue Gordon and Warner Bros.
In being a movie star but also living in the real world as a teen, Roberts says she has a tutor who works with her three hours a day when she’s filming. She describes it as difficult to switch from film mode to real-life high school girl mode.

In the film, Nancy Drew’s father is fixated on encouraging his teenage-sleuthing daughter to take a break from her investigative ways to be a normal kid. Roberts added: “He wanted her to have a normal teenage experience even though he knew she wouldn’t. It was one of those things parents say that they won’t enforce.”

While her father was concerned about with her sleuthing obsession, he was even more so about the danger that often followed her. Roberts says she didn’t perform any of her own stunts.

“Whenever you saw my face, that’s me. When you didn’t, it’s a stunt double. There’s only one of me,” she said. “None of the driving scenes – even if an adult was driving – were real. The car was attached to a trailer and they pulled us.”

Even adults didn’t really drive the cars in “Nancy Drew”.
Photo courtesy of Melinda Sue Gordon and Warner Bros.
Roberts describes the film character of Nancy Drew as timeless. She says there’s nothing in particular about the young woman that ties her to today, 50 years ago or 50 years from now despite the paradox of how much women have changed dramatically over the years.

She says she liked how the film was set in modern times but still feels like the character in the books. She added: “Had they made her more contemporary with jeans, a shirt and long blonde hair, that would defeat the purpose of making the movie. Nancy Drew fans shouldn’t be disappointed. Girls will either want to be like her or be her friend.”

How cute.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com